The Life of a RockStar
by bmw
Summary: Max's parents conveniently forgot to tell him something huge. What happens when he finds out, thanks to a rich adopted beyblader and Kenny? Life will change for TONS of people! (is also tragedy later, and the rating will have to go up sniff)
1. Intro

A/N: ok, here's the part where I tell you all about the most important part of my story! What the Blade Breakers wear in it!! Okiez, Max, Rei, Tyson, and Kenny are G-Rev; Hilary wears a medium blue jeans skirt with a white edge, that comes to a sort of pointy thing in the front and back, a white tank top, and an orangey pinky short sleeved over shirt. Kai wears baggy blue pants (baggy at the ankles too), black boots as usual, his scarf, a black tank top, and his short black gloves. And then the others, I'll tell you as they come up, but those ones are constant unless otherwise specified. I probably won't specify otherwise though. It's taking place... um... about 2 years after V-Force, which means, according to me, that the ages are as follows: Max: 15, Tyson: 15 and ½, Rei: 16, Kai: 16 and ½, Hilary: 15, Kenny: 14.  
  
Disclaimer: this will go for the whole story: I own the plot, Rockie, Missa, Kuri, Lyric, Trika, Drayera, and any other bit beasts I make up (I'm not sure if I'll make them or not yet). I suppose if there are any other things, I'll mention them. But anyway, that's all I own. Carlie literally is one of my best friends, so I don't own her. I definitely don't own Beyblade or any brand names I might use, like McDonalds or something. Ok, got it? Good! Read on!  
  
Hey Rockie. Whatcha doin later?  
  
Nothing with you, Granger.  
  
Why?  
  
You really want to know?  
  
Duh!!!!!!!  
  
Okay: I hate you.  
  
All cuz of some stupid fight when we were kids?  
  
You dumped PINK paint all over me, and it was in first grade!  
  
Fine. What can I do to make it up to you?  
  
Do you have your cute friend's #?  
  
*grrr...* which one?  
  
Hiwatari.  
  
Kai?!?!  
  
Yeah. What's so wrong with that?  
  
Nothing. 555-0291. *grrr... again*  
  
Better be right, bozo.  
  
Bozo?!?!  
  
Rockie memorized the number, then crumpled the note with a smirk and turned back to the teacher's lecture, pretending to be interested. Meanwhile, Tyson pouted.  
  
The next day, Rockie called the number. It rang five times, but just as she was about to give up and hunt Tyson down, someone answered.  
"Hello?" an accented voice asked.  
"Hello. I'm looking for Kai."  
"May I ask who's calling?"  
"A girl from school. That's all you need to know."  
"Just a moment."  
About a minute later, the phone was picked up again. "Yes?"  
"Kai!"  
"That's my name."  
"Yeah, sorry. Listen... I've got a few questions I'd like to ask you."  
"I don't even know who you are..."  
"Sorry." She blushed. "I'm... Rochelle. I'm in Tyson Granger's class at school, and you know how HE is. I flirted a little and got the whole story of the Bladebreakers as a team... I guess the three pizzas didn't hurt either."  
"I see. What kind of questions?"  
"Can we meet in person before I tell you any of that?" she crossed her fingers and bit her lip.  
"Against my better judgment, I'll meet you. Where?"  
"The park by the high school. Please come alone. You'll know why after you see me."  
"Fine. Alone, first thing tomorrow. I'll be there."  
Click.  
"Finally! Yes!!" she yelled, doing a little dance.  
  
A/N: that first part was supposed to be in two handwriting-y fonts, but I don't think it'll work when I upload, but I think you are smart enough to figure out who's talking when. Ok, it's a short first chappie, I know. that's why it's called the intro. It introduces the story. ;o) anyway, you can review if you want, but I'm not gonna beg you. That's not my style. (laughs her head off at the thought of someone thinking she has a style) Ok, on with life now! Good-bye! ~bmw 


	2. Kai does something nice!

A/N: hello, there! Um, that's really all I have to say. *laughs*  
  
-\-/-\/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
The next morning, Kai was sitting on a bench in the park with his legs and arms crossed, watching a boy play with his dog in the early morning dew, when he sensed someone behind him. A second later, a girl in a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up, jean shorts, and tennis shoes jumped over the bench and landed next to Kai.  
"Hey, sorry I'm late."  
"Hmph." "Can I ask questions now?"  
"Let me see your face."  
Reluctantly, the girl removed her hood, revealing a shock. Her medium- blonde hair was curly like Max's would be if it were longer. She had freckles just like his. She was cute and cuddly looking just like Max. Basically... Max as a girl. Except with red hair and darker eyes.  
Did I mention that my last name is Tate?"  
"No..."  
"I didn't know until a month ago."  
"What?"  
"Apparently, I was given up for adoption at birth because my family couldn't afford two babies. I'm Max's twin sister, and I never knew." She looked down for a second, but then looked back up at Kai with that classic Max-grin.  
"But that's where you come in. you know Max, so you can help me out."  
"Ask Tyson."  
"No!"  
"He can help you better than I can."  
"He's a hotheaded jerk."  
"Don't I know it," Kai rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll help you. What do you want to know?"  
"Everything! Well, all I know is that he looks like me and that he's friends with Tyson and you and Hilary."  
"You also know his birthday, age, parents' names..."  
She blushed again. "Um... yeah. All of that."  
"Be here tomorrow at the same time," Kai said and stood up. "Can I tell him about you?"  
"Um..." Rockie thought about it for a second. "Just tell him that a fan wants info. That's good enough."  
Kai nodded once and walked away.  
'Where'd HE learn manners?' she thought, as she headed back home for a nap. Mornings were NOT her thing.  
  
-\-/-\/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
"Max!"  
Max looked up, startled. "Uh, yeah, Kai?"  
"Come here."  
Max excused himself from his Scrabble game with the other three boys. "What?"  
"Some girl called me and wanted to know all about you."  
Max grinned. "Oh really? Was she cute?"  
Kai thought for a second. "Yeah, I suppose, but you wouldn't be interested."  
"Oh. Well then why are you telling me this?"  
"I wanted to ask if I could give her the information."  
"Yeah, sure, tell her whatever you want."  
Kai started to walk away, but changed his mind. "One more thing. Are you an only child?"  
"Yup."  
"Okay then." Kai went into his room and closed the door. Then he dug out all of the info on Max that he had to keep, because he was the team captain.  
  
-\-/-\/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
Rockie was on time the next morning. She was wearing her usual outfit; an ankle length, granny-smith-apple-green baggy skirt that has cargo pockets and toggles all over it (has a zip-off thingie to make it be mid-thigh or mid-calf, like those pants have), and matching hooded vest (unzipped), with a tight light turquoise t-shirt with kind of baggy sleeves underneath, and white skateboard shoes. Kai handed her a thick packet of papers. On top was a picture of Max, smiling away.  
"He's so cute! I mean, in a little-kid sort of way. He's really 15?"  
"Yeah. Anything you could want to know is in those papers." He turned around and started walking away.  
"Wait. One more thing."  
He stopped, "what is it?"  
"I want to meet him."  
"Follow me."  
"Right now?!"  
"I'm not coming back again. Now or never."  
Rockie stopped to think, 'If I go, I won't know anything about him. But then, he doesn't know anything about me. it'll be fair.'  
"Hey, wait up!" she yelled, running after Kai. 


	3. Kenny's turn to help out

A/N: Asa-Chan, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the enlightening reviews. I don't know what the world would be like without people like you. Thanks also to Sasuka. Really, it's people like you two who make the world go round.  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
Kai arrived at the dojo, pointed Rockie into the house, and went off to some corner alone.  
  
Rockie started walking through, when suddenly a big long stick thingie came flying at her. She gasped and crossed her arms over her head, bending her knees to absorb the shock of the impact. The stick stopped about an inch over her arms.  
  
"Good reflexes. Who're you, sister?"  
  
She looked up, to see an old man. "I'm Rockie, sir..."  
  
"Really? Well, Rockie, you can call me Grandpa, but only if you tell me why you're in my pad without any of the homies." Grandpa smiled to show that he was joking.  
  
"I came with Kai, but I'm looking for Max. Do you know where he is?"  
  
"He's out back with little dude and the gang. Straight through there." Grandpa pointed his stick thingie toward the other end of the dojo.  
  
"Thank you!" she hurried through, and out into the morning sunlight on the other side. Looking around, she saw a pond with rocks around it, a walkway, and a group of kids about her own age not too far off to her left.  
  
She slowly approached the closest one, a short boy with brown hair and glasses, who was talking to a computer. "Excuse me..."  
  
Kenny jumped, but then turned around. "Can I help you with something?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, I think so. I'm looking for Max," she looked a little nervous, and clutched the straps of her backpack for the small comfort it offered.  
  
"The blonde one over there. Wait, I'll call him. Dizzi?"  
  
"Do I have to do EVERYTHING for you, Chief?" it was Rockie's turn to jump. That computer just talked to the kid...?  
  
"Fine, I'll do it, I just thought you might want to," Kenny got up and walked over to the group, then came back to Rockie with Max following. The rest of the group stopped blading and watched curiously.  
  
"Hi! I'm Max. What's up?"  
  
"Well..." she silently cursed her parents for making her do this alone.  
  
~~~flashback~~~  
  
"Rochelle, if you want to meet him so much, YOU go talk to him! I'll have no part in it," her mother said, while chopping up potatoes.  
  
"But WHY? It's not going to hurt you to see him. He's not even your kid. Why can't you go with me?" Rockie argued.  
  
"I don't approve of you meeting him. You've been separated for 15 years. you won't have a THING in common, and he'll probably laugh at you when you tell him."  
  
"You've seen him on TV, Mom, he's not like that!" Rockie punched the kitchen table in frustration.  
  
"Famous people are good at hiding their true selves, Rockie. He's probably a stuck up rich jerk." Her mother stood by her decision.  
  
Rockie went to her father instead. "Daddy, could you come with me? I'm scared to go alone."  
  
"Don't go then, sweetheart," he said, never looking up from the blueprints he was drawing out.  
  
"You're just like Mom! Why don't YOU want me to go?"  
  
"Because your mother said so."  
  
"You're pathetic."  
  
"Why thank you, loving daughter of mine," and then he ignored Rockie every time she mentioned it, until finally she'd decided to go to Kai. That hadn't worked out very well, either, and so she was totally alone with it.  
  
~~~end flashback~~~  
  
"Well what?" Max smiled, but he was looking at her a little funny.  
  
"Well... um... argh, just a second. Sorry. Um... what's your name?" she looked at Kenny.  
  
"Kenny..."  
  
"Can you help me for a second?" she dragged him around the side of the dojo without waiting for an answer.  
  
"What do you want me to help you with?"  
  
"Do a search on Mr. Steven Lewis and his wife, Alyssa, please," she said, dropping her backpack on the ground and crouching next to it. Kenny sat on the ground and did as she asked, only because he was curious as to where this was going.  
  
"Here's something good. An article," Dizzi said.  
  
"Read it," Rockie said softly.  
  
"It's in a businessman magazine, and it was written about two years ago:  
  
Mr. S. Lewis is a successful entrepreneur, who designs skyscrapers all across the world. When asked what his greatest accomplishment in life was, he responds, "My career, of course! What else would I say?". This man has designed over 300 buildings in his career, ranging from the average office building to a clock tower in London, England.  
  
Mr. Lewis is 43 years old, married for 17 years. When the couple had been married for a year, they decided to have children. Sadly, they discovered that this would be impossible. Making a tough decision, they decided to adopt. Their daughter is a healthy, happy 13-year-old, named Rochelle after Mr. Lewis' grandmother.  
  
Despite this setback, the family is prosperous, and live in a mansion designed by Mr. Lewis himself. He says, as advise to any aspiring architect or businessman, "Go to college, get a degree, and work for yourself. An already established business will restrict your creativity and pay."  
  
Whoa, that guy has some opinions, doesn't he?" Dizzi added as she finished reading the article aloud.  
  
"Why did we read all that?" Kenny asked.  
  
"That's me..."  
  
"You're a 43-year-old businessman?" Dizzi asked skeptically.  
  
"No, I'm his adopted daughter."  
  
"Okay..." the boy and the computer chorused. It was a little freaky.  
  
"They adopted me from an American family. This family had twins, a boy and a girl, and my mother wouldn't be happy unless she got the girl, so she took me. I found out from Mom about a month ago... The family was the Tate's." Rockie blabbed.  
  
"So you're related to Max, huh?" Kenny laughed. "I see the resemblance. Rochelle, right?"  
  
"Call me Rockie. Only my parents call me Rochelle."  
  
"Nice to meet you then." Kenny stuck out his hand, and Rockie shook it.  
  
"I'd shake too, but sadly, I am stuck in this computer." Dizzi whined.  
  
"What's up with that, anyway? Why does your computer talk to you?" Rockie looked curiously between Kenny and Dizzi.  
  
"She's a bit-beast. She got stuck in there a long time ago."  
  
"Oh... ok then!"  
  
"How, exactly, are you related to Max, anyway?"  
  
"I'm pretty sure I'm his... eh... sister..." Rockie blushed, thinking that Kenny would laugh at her.  
  
"Really? That's interesting. If you'll let me, I'd like to run the tests to see if you're right. But before we do all that, do you want to meet the rest of the team?" Kenny closed his laptop and stood up. Rockie stood up too, putting her backpack back on her back, and shook her head.  
  
"Since you're offering... could you run tests first? I don't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone if it's avoidable."  
  
"Well... I suppose... but you'll have to come to my house. Believe it or not, I actually have the equipment for such tests. I've tested to make sure all of the Blade Breakers are healthy, so I already have all of the info from Max. I just need yours."  
  
So that's why, on a Saturday morning, Rockie was running down the street toward a Chinese restaurant.  
  
Panting, she ran in and asked the woman behind the counter where Kenny was.  
  
"Up in his room... why?"  
  
"I need to ask him something... for school..."  
  
"Oh, alright! It's the third door."  
  
Rockie smiled at her, then went up the stairs and to Kenny's room. She knocked on the open door and stuck her head in. "Hey, Kenny, can I come in?"  
  
He looked up from his computer, startled. "Oh, it's you. Yeah, sure. The test's done."  
  
"And..." she could barely contain her excitement to finally know if she was right about the champion beyblader.  
  
"You were right."  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
woo hoo, that's a long chapter! Go me! ok, you don't really have to review. I'm writing cuz it's fun! Fun fun fun! Ok, bye! ~bmw 


	4. The strangest beybattle ever

A/N: thanks for the review, silver swan1, I looked at some of your fics, and they look gooood! ;o) I think I will start reading some of them when I have a little more time. Oh, and Sasuka, yeah, I guess you could say I got a beta. And just because I don't beg pathetically for reviews doesn't mean I don't enjoy them! ;o)  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
"Please, please, please, Kenny!" Rockie begged.  
  
"Why can't you do it yourself?" he sighed.  
  
"Cuz I'm a wuss and I need help," she mumbled.  
  
He sighed again and left the room, coming back a minute later with a cordless phone. "What do you want me to say?"  
  
She grinned. "Thanks Kenny, you're the best. All you have to say is...uh... well, could you tell him the whole story?" she said quickly.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Oh, please do it! I don't know him hardly at all, and you know him very well. You know exactly how to say it. I have no clue. Please?"  
  
He started dialing. 'I'm going to regret this,' he thought while the phone started ringing.  
  
-\-/-  
  
"Kenny, you're SURE you haven't been using Sharpie markers to color? Tyson did that once, and he started saying strange things, too." Max sounded skeptical, and amused at the same time.  
  
"Yes, Max, I'm sure!! She's sitting RIGHT HERE! I've run tests, and..."  
  
"So why don't I know about her? I mean, if I had a sister, I would definitely know. "  
  
"Not if she was given up the day you were born," Kenny said softly.  
  
"So now she's my twin?! Geez, Kenny, I thought you were the smart one of the bunch. I don't have a sister. My parents would never give one kid up and keep the other." Max was practically yelling, but then his tone softened almost to pleading. "I'm right, right Kenny?"  
  
"Give me the phone," she mouthed silently.  
  
"Max, she wants to talk to you."  
  
"Fine. That's fine," Max said hesitantly.  
  
"Hello?" Rockie said nervously.  
  
"Hi... are you that girl Kenny thinks is my sister?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You're not my sister."  
  
"I am, though. Max... please, at least try and consider it. You don't seem the type to just completely disbelieve something without even giving it a try."  
  
Max was about to open his mouth and start yelling when her words sunk in. 'She's right, whoever she is. I shouldn't just blow this off. Maybe...'  
  
"Fine. I'll meet you, at least. Even though you're not my sister, maybe we can be friends, right?"  
  
Rockie grinned, making Kenny sigh with relief. "Yeah, that would be great. Do you want to talk to Kenny again?"  
  
"Sure, put the Chief on."  
  
-\-/-  
  
Kenny and Max decided that the three of them would meet up at the park the next day.  
  
On the way to the park, Kenny and Rockie were silent. Rockie held the straps of her backpack with white knuckles, which Kenny noticed but didn't mention. He was holding Dizzi rather tightly, too.  
  
The two of them sat on a bench in the middle of the park to wait for Max.  
  
He finally showed up, with the other Blade Breakers in tow, but he stopped a few feet away and told the others to go away, and he'd come find them when he was through there. Then he came over and stood in front of the bench, looking down at Kenny and Rockie curiously.  
  
"So, you're Rockie, huh?" Max asked with a small smile, nothing like his usual cheerful grin.  
  
"Y-yeah, I am..."  
  
"You think you're my twin sister." Max crouched in front of the bench so his face was level with hers, and examined her features carefully.  
  
"I AM your twin sister." she was silently comparing his face to her own, not knowing that he was doing the same to her.  
  
"You DO look an awful lot like me... but I don't have a sister."  
  
"Listen. Kenny told you the story. It's all true, every word of it. Why don't you believe me?" she looked sad, a lot like Max's sad look.  
  
"I don't believe you because you're lying. Now, if we could get past all of that twin business, maybe we could get to know each other, and maybe we could be friends. But first you have to give this up. I'm not your brother. I've always been my parents' only child. If I had a sister, they would have told me about her." Max looked sad, rather than mad like his words. He looked almost like he wanted to believe her....  
  
She sighed, and broke eye contact for fear that tears might come. "Okay. If I don't mention being your twin, can I still get to know you? I mean... I do want to be friends."  
  
Max grinned for real. "Sure we could be friends! We could start right now, if you want."  
  
Rockie wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands quickly, and smiled back. "Sounds good."  
  
"Do you blade?" Max asked, pulling Draciel out and holding it on his open palm.  
  
"Yeah! I started a few years ago." she opened the snap-shut pocket on the front of her backpack and brought out her own beyblade, a light purple one with three wings and five balls in the base for balance and endurance (like Draciel Fortress, sort of).  
  
"Cool blade! Wanna battle me?"  
  
"Sure!"  
  
-\-/-  
  
The battle was quick. Max wasn't trying; he wanted to see how good Rockie was. She beat him and then growled. "Why did you let me win?"  
  
"I just wanted to see how you bladed. I wanted to get a feel for your strategy, because you had the advantage of knowing mine." He grinned once again and set his beyblade back into his launcher. "This one is for real."  
  
They launched again; the blades hit in air before bouncing into the dish. Max was winning again, even with Rockie concentrating as hard as she could, until she got fed up.  
  
"Drayera!!" she yelled. There was a flash of reddish light, and her bit beast was out. It was a reddish-brown hawk, with a lighter color of feathers on its underside. Its beak and talons were metal. It had large fanned out red tail feathers, and red feathers on the ends of its wings.  
  
Max grinned wider than ever and called Draciel out, too.  
  
That's when the battle got interesting. Instead of beating the crap out of each other, the bit beasts actually looked at each other, with puzzled expressions.  
  
::Do I know you?:: Draciel asked.  
  
::I don't think so. but you seem familiar,:: Drayera thought for a moment. ::I remember! I do know you! Robin and Derek, remember them?::  
  
::Yes! That's what it was!:: Draciel seemed happy. ::Have you seen either of them recently?::  
  
::Derek gave me to Rockie's adoptive parents so they could give me to her when she was old enough,:: Drayera answered.  
  
::Robin gave me to Max through a necklace a few years ago. Good to see you again!::  
  
Rockie and Max stared in disbelief as their bit beasts had a conversation.  
  
::Drayera, you're supposed to ATTACK him, not chat with him!:: Rockie yelled in her head.  
  
::Calm down, sweetheart, this is a good friend of mine. Don't make me battle him, please? Not right now.::  
  
Rockie sighed. ::Fine. Go back in.::  
  
The bit beast happily went back into the beyblade, still chatting away in the back of Rockie's mind to Draciel about some guy named Derek.  
  
Max allowed Draciel to go back into his beyblade as well. "That... that was about the strangest thing that has ever happened to me."  
  
"Same here. Who are Derek and Robin?" Rockie caught her blade as it flew into her hand.  
  
"I think those were my grandparents' names," Max said. "I know my Grandma was Robin... but Grandpa died when I was little. I never learned his name." He looked a little sad.  
  
"Max, don't you get it? This is proof! Why would I have your grandfather's bit beast if I wasn't your sister?"  
  
"Maybe you're right..." Max sat on the grass and thought for a second, his eyebrows bunching up in thought. "I need to talk to my parents. Can you give me your phone number?"  
  
She pulled a piece of paper out of her backpack and scribbled some numbers on it. "Here you go."  
  
"I'll call you when I've found something out. You'll tell Kenny about all of this, right?"  
  
"Sure..."  
  
"Good. See ya later." Max threw her one last grin before he stood up, grabbed Draciel, and walked away, out of the park.  
  
Rockie headed back to the place where they left Kenny, to see him surrounded by the rest of the Blade Breakers, answering questions.  
  
"So that's her?" Hilary asked curiously as Rockie approached.  
  
"Yeah, that's me, Max's twin," Rockie rolled her eyes. "He's going to go talk to his parents. I was told to tell you that..."  
  
"I hope they don't start fighting or something..." Rei said quietly.  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
A/N: okay, now, before you attack me with M-S flames because she almost cried and because she was agreeable yet determined and nice to Kenny and a reasonably good beyblader and everything, let me say this: if you met your brother for the first time tomorrow, and he didn't believe you were related, even though you had proof, wouldn't you be upset? Wouldn't you be happy just to get to talk to him for a while? Maybe you'd be all cold and Kai-like, but you know how Max acted when he found his mom and stuff... and Rockie is all like Max, just a girl so therefore she's slightly different. Alright, just felt that I had to say that. That whole Anti-Mary-Sue thing is so stupid it's unreal. Done ranting for today! ~bmw 


	5. Meet me for pizza

A/N: Thanks bunches to MysticMystery, silver swan 1, and lilix for the great reviews! And kaibygirl... thanks... I think...? Oh, and I just noticed that I spell everything the English way except for Rei. I do this because the name R-A-Y reminds me of Ray Campbell, on Sister Sister. I can't possibly picture Rei with the same name as the other Ray, so I spell it R-E-I. Plus, I like the Japanese way better anyway. Nobody commented or anything, but just in case someone is confused in the future or thinks I'm stupid or something... yeah. Okay. On with the story. ;o)  
  
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As soon as Max was out of sight, he started running toward his father's hobby shop. Bursting through the door, he immediately went behind the counter.  
  
"Max, what are you doing?" Mr. Tate asked as the couple of customers stared.  
  
"We need to talk."  
  
"I close at 5, son..."  
  
Max interrupted. "We need to talk NOW." Something about the look on Max's face must have alerted his father that something serious was going on, because he looked to his customers with an apologetic smile.  
  
"I'm sorry, but this is important. I've got to go to the back room for a while, but if you find something, you can leave it on the counter with your address and I'll ring it up and deliver it to you, if you'd like."  
  
The woman nodded with a smile. "I understand; I put my own kids first, too."  
  
Max and Mr. Tate went to the back.  
  
"What's wrong, Max?"  
  
Max took a deep breath and put on a relaxed face. "Guess who I met today, Dad?"  
  
Mr. Tate grinned. "A nice girl, maybe?"  
  
"You could say that. She's blonde, and she's got pretty greenish eyes, and she was really happy to meet me."  
  
"That's great, Max! What is her name?"  
  
"Hmm... I think it might have been... Rochelle Lewis." Max's face went from the fake happy to mad in a split second.  
  
Mr. Tate's smile faded. "That sounds familiar..."  
  
"Yeah, it should. See, she was adopted at birth from this American family, and apparently, she had this twin brother... and she decided she wanted to find him. She got lucky, cuz he happened to be in Japan, where she lives, since his parents got divorced." Max's eyes were angry slits, and he frowned at his father.  
  
Realization dawned on Mr. Tate. "Max... I..."  
  
"You lied. This whole time, you were lying!!" Max yelled, not bothering to keep his voice controlled.  
  
"I've never..."  
  
Max's eyes grew teary. "Dad, she's my sister. I didn't even know I HAD a sister. How could you keep something like that from me?!"  
  
"I... didn't think you should know..."  
  
"Why? And how did you think it was okay for you to lie? Do you realize that I could have known her this whole time? We could have joined a beyblade team together. We could be great friends; she's the nicest girl you could meet. But noooo, you decided to lie and let me believe that I was an only child this whole time. 15 years, Dad!!" Max was choked up by this time, sounding almost pitiful.  
  
"I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I was so young when I decided not to tell you... I was planning on telling you at your graduation, really..."  
  
"Great. As long as you weren't planning to hide this from me forever. You do realize that this means that I can't trust you, right? What if there's something else you're hiding from me? For all I know, you could have another family living down the street, you could be married and everything."  
  
"No... I wouldn't do that. Max, I'm sorry. I really, truly am. It was your mother's idea anyway, before we split up, because she didn't want you to feel like you were missing out on something. Please... I promise, this is the only thing I didn't tell you."  
  
Max saw how upset his dad was, and the anger faded. "Maybe I'll forgive you... I'm going to call Mom. Go take care of your customers." Without waiting for an answer, he left the room to the place where the phone is. (Sorry, I've never actually seen the shop, so...)  
  
The phone rang three times before it was picked up. "Hello?"  
  
It was a male voice. "Hi... who is this?" Max asked curiously.  
  
"I thought it was my job to ask that... but if you must know, my name is Phil."  
  
"Okay, hi, Phil, I want to talk to my mother. Is she there?"  
  
"Um... I don't think so. You must have the wrong number."  
  
"Sorry, sir, I'll try again. Bye." Max hung up, checked the number in the address book, and tried again. It was picked up in the middle of the second ring this time. "Hello?"  
  
It was the same voice. "Can I speak to Judy Tate, please?"  
  
"Hey, are you the same kid who called a minute ago?" Phil sounded annoyed.  
  
"Yeah... but I need to talk to Judy." Max was nervous. Who was answering his mom's phone?  
  
"Fine... just a minute." There was a click as the phone was set on the table, and then Max could hear a conversation, but he couldn't make out the words. Then Judy picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Mom, we need to talk." Max got straight to the point, to save time. It was long distance, after all.  
  
"Oh, hello, Max! What's wrong?"  
  
"What would you say if I told you that I know what you've been keeping from me, and I'm not happy about it?"  
  
"Max, I can explain, you see, Phil..."  
  
"MOM!! This has nothing to do with the bozo. I couldn't care less about him. I meant something else... or rather, someone. Get it yet?"  
  
"Not clicking. Hurry up and just tell me, this is long distance."  
  
"I know it is. Anyway... I found my sister."  
  
There was silence on the other line.  
  
"Mom. Did you hear me? I found Rockie, and she's really nice. I want to know why you lied."  
  
"I don't have to answer that, I'm your mother. I had good reasons. I've got to go... I've got business to attend to," Judy said, sounding annoyed.  
  
"Whatever. Bye." Max hung up and sighed. "Oh well," he thought aloud, "who cares? I don't need answers. It doesn't matter anymore, because I found her now. We can get to know each other now, and make up for lost time."  
  
-/-\-/-\-  
  
The next day, Max showed up early in the morning at the dojo. Tyson, Rei, and Hilary wanted to know what was going on, and why Max suddenly had a twin.  
  
"Sorry Max, I tried to tell them, Rockie tried to tell them... they wanna hear it from you," Kenny apologized.  
  
"Where is she, anyway?" Max asked, ignoring the begging.  
  
"She went home about an hour after you left..."  
  
"Where's home?"  
  
"Max, don't you ignore me!" Tyson said angrily.  
  
"Tyson, go eat something and leave me alone!" Max yelled.  
  
Tyson looked shocked, and his mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish's. He eventually gave up on words and walked away, grumbling, into the kitchen, and Hilary followed, already starting to yell at him for being rude.  
  
"Kenny, can you please explain everything to Rei one more time? I need to go call her."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Okay. Kenny. I know that Rockie is Max's twin and all, but tell me again why they just met?" Rei questioned with a slight frown.  
  
"Well, you see..." Kenny began to explain.  
  
-/-\-/-\-  
  
Max called the phone number he'd been given the day before.  
  
Rockie answered. "Hello, Rockie here."  
  
"Hey, Rockie, it's Max... I talked to my parents, and I thought you'd want to know." Max was surprisingly calm. He'd expected to be nervous.  
  
"Really? What happened?"  
  
"Well, Dad went all 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' and Mom blew me off."  
  
"Oh. Well... what's that mean?"  
  
"Wanna meet me for lunch? I think we need to talk."  
  
"Okay..."  
  
"Great, thanks. Come to the pizza place that's a block down the street from the park... do you know the one?"  
  
"Yeah, I love to eat there! I'll see you around... one?"  
  
"Sure. Bye."  
  
"Adios."  
  
They both hung up. Rockie went to throw some stuff in her backpack, and then started walking. It would take a while to get there on foot.  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
A/N: a small explanation...... I have actually never seen any episodes of the show that have Max's parents in them. I don't know a THING about them, except the impressions I get from other fanfics and from websites. I'm sorry if I didn't portray them quite right, but I tried, and it doesn't really matter, because Max is a little OOC anyway. Actually... maybe he's not... I'm confused, so I'll just shut up. Oh, and do you think I should rewrite the first two chapters? I don't really want to, but if you think I should, I will, it just might take a while to get it done. Ooohhh, I have... 1,524 words! Yay! Okay, sorry, on a slight word counting obsession recently. I'll shut up now. For real. 


	6. New friends

Max had been sitting in the little pizza place for 10 minutes, getting bored, when Rockie finally arrived. She spotted him immediately and came to sit across from him in the booth.  
  
"Hi..." she said slowly.  
  
"Hi!" Max thought for a second. "You know what, I'm going to get straight to the point, because I feel bad about it. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You were right, I was wrong. It's just... I hated to admit that my parents could... you know..."  
  
"It's fine. I thought about it, and I guess I understand how that could be hard to see... even though I don't like my parents very much."  
  
Max grinned and chewed a breadstick. "So..."  
  
"Yeah." This wasn't turning out how Rockie had planned. She didn't have anything to say!!  
  
It turned out that her worries were unnecessary. Once she had relaxed, she realized that the silence wasn't at all uncomfortable. Still...  
  
"Didn't you want to talk to me about something?" Rockie asked quietly.  
  
"Oh. Yeah. Just wanted to tell you... that... you know, since you're my sister and all... I think we should spend some time together. You know. Since we didn't know each other before now... we shouldn't lose any more time." Max picked nervously at his pizza.  
  
"Sure! That sounds like a good idea to me, Max," she smiled happily.  
  
"Great! So... do you want to come to practice sometime?"  
  
"You mean... the Blade Breakers' practice?" Max nodded. "Oh. Okay!"  
  
-\-/-\-/-  
  
They left soon after that, for Tyson's house. Once there, there wasn't much room for talking, because they walked into the middle of practice.  
  
"Hey, Maxie, where were ya?" Tyson asked as Max walked out to the back yard.  
  
"Out... oh, I brought Rockie to practice. I hope you don't mind too much," Max added quickly.  
  
"Nah, we can always use a new face around here," Hilary butted in.  
  
"Only if she blades," Kai said in his usual quiet yet still heard voice.  
  
"KAI!!" Hilary protested. "That's not nice." Then she turned to Rockie, "We've never been properly introduced. I'm Hilary ((what's her last name?! I swear, I knew it last week!!!))."  
  
"Call me Rockie," the newcomer said with a smile.  
  
-\-/-\-/-  
  
From that day on, Rockie made it her mission to be accepted by the Blade Breakers. She hung out with Max almost constantly, coming to all of the practices; she helped the team with everything from homework (that would be Tyson) to planning the team's training schedule (with Hilary). She stayed out of Kai's way, taught Rei how to cook a dish her mother had invented, and actually listened when Kenny lectured.  
  
A few times, she brought her best friend Carlie along. Carlie was about a head taller than Rockie and quite pretty, with shoulder length dark brown hair, and thin-framed glasses. Kai liked to glare at her meanly, but Rei got along with her well. ((Doesn't Rei get along with everyone?))  
  
Now, when the Blade Breakers got a call from Mr. Dickenson, saying that there was another American tournament coming up, they of course started training twice as hard. Rockie — who was now expected to be at practice — helped them prepare, and in exchange, they helped HER prepare.  
  
"Okay, study this list carefully. Put faces with names and keep them that way," Hilary instructed as she gave Rockie a packet of papers.  
  
-\-/-\-/-  
  
Rockie flipped through the pages that night at home. "Okay... short green hair, fancy clothes... violet eyes... OLIVER!! Yeah! And then that one, with the red hair is... Tommy? No, that's not right..." she studied all of the teams thoroughly. The team insisted that it would make the whole trip a lot easier on her.  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/- A/N: sorry for the apparent pointlessness of this chapter, but it gets EVERYTHING out of the way. I've got a plan for something to fill the gap where it skips ahead a lot, so it's not like she just did that stuff and suddenly was their best friend. Oh, but it really wasn't pointless. It's one of those filler chapters. It's actually quite important, because without it, you'd be totally and completely lost in the NEXT chapter. I know it's not good. You don't need to tell me. The next chapter should be better, unless I get that awful bug... I think it's called writer's block... okay, I'm gonna go now before I give myself nightmares!! 


	7. People watching

A/N: okay... I think I've lost my readers, but that's okay. Maybe I'll find them again, or get new ones, once the story picks up!  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
The day before the American Tournament (Rockie's first tourney, too...), Hilary and Rockie went to the mall for no reason other than that they were both way overdue for a shopping trip.  
  
All of the boys were sleeping the day away, "to avoid jet lag," as Kenny explained.  
  
"Hilary, how well do you know the boys?" Rockie asked as they entered Hot Topic.  
  
"Pretty well... I suppose it depends on WHICH boy though," Hilary answered.  
  
"Well, I know Max really well, and Kenny... Rei's a little mysterious, but I could get anything out of him if I asked. I know Tyson pretty well. But Kai..."  
  
"You picked the wrong one, Rock. I don't really know anything about Kai."  
  
They were silent through the rest of the store, checkout, and they were fully into the next store before Hilary spoke up.  
  
"What do you want to know?"  
  
[Ok, here's where Hilary tells all about the Abbey and Voltaire and Biovault and all that crapamoli, but if you're REALLY a Beyblade fan you'll know. and if you don't know, you can go look it up in just about any Kai fic or Kai fansite. I really don't feel like typing it out. Sorry, I sound rude, don't I? Woopsie...]  
  
By the time Hilary was done, the girls were done shopping. They stopped a taxi, and then they went to the dojo.  
  
-/-\-/-\-  
  
Rockie woke up the floor, leaning up against the couch in front of the TV. It took her a second to remember that she'd been watching a movie with the others, and that Max had fallen asleep using her lap as a pillow, and he had looked so sweet that she couldn't bring herself to wake him up, so she'd stayed where she was.  
  
Hilary and Kenny and Rei were awake. Kai was asleep in an armchair, and Tyson was slouched over a bowl of WAY melted ice cream, snoring. Max was sleeping too; snuggled up close to Rockie, who still hadn't moved to avoid waking him up.  
  
Instead, she looked at the others. They obviously thought she was still asleep.  
  
She watched Kenny while he alternated between typing and taking bites of a doughnut. Nothing interesting there.  
  
Next she watched Hilary. Apparently, Hilary was the official packer of the Blade Breakers. She had Kenny's bag packed, as well as Tyson's and Kai's. She was working on Rei's, but he was polite enough to help her. Rockie noticed a few spices and cooking utensils going into Rei's bag as well as clothes and the normal things. That was boring after a minute, too.  
  
She watched Tyson next. His head bobbed up and down as he snored, and his hands twitched a little. His facial expression kept changing. Eventually, Rockie noticed a pattern. It seemed as if Tyson's dream were a broken record. Boring again.  
  
Max was next. She looked at his face, not far from her own. "Aw, he's even cuter when he's sleeping!" she thought, playing with his hair a bit. He still had a little grin, even in his sleep. She began to count his freckles for lack of anything better to do, when his expression suddenly changed. He looked... mad? "Dreaming of a beybattle," she decided. It only lasted a second, and then he opened his eyes and blinked.  
  
"G'morning, Rockie," he said sleepily, blinking a few times before sitting up and rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Morning Max!" she said quietly. Max gave her a smile, then got up and went to eat breakfast before Tyson woke up and ate everything.  
  
Rockie sighed, pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, and went back to her people watching. Kai was next in logical order, so she watched him for a while. He didn't move in his sleep at all. This fascinated her. She knew for a fact that the human body naturally moved almost constantly, but Kai was stone still. "Wonder how long it took him to learn THAT," she thought.  
  
She watched him for a full ten minutes. The only change in his entire body was that his scowl got... scowlier. She would have watched him longer, probably until he woke up, if Grandpa hadn't come into the room banging a gong, making her jump to her feet and into a defensive fighting position before she thought about what was happening. Everyone else either woke up or ran into the room.  
  
"Whoa, cool it, Rock-star! I'm just here to help the homies rise and shine."  
  
"Oh, sorry, Grandpa. Eh... reflexes."  
  
"Those were some coolio moves there, sister! If you're up to it, I wanna see how well you can handle the champ when you get back from Calamazoo!" he flexed his muscles ((lol what muscles?)).  
  
"We're going to America, Grandpa!" Tyson objected.  
  
Grandpa ignored Tyson and put an arm around Rockie's shoulders, his other arm around Max's. "Blondie, you've got yourself one cute little chick here, ya know?"  
  
Both twins blushed. "She's my SISTER, Grandpa!"  
  
"Yeah, all the more reason for you to watch out for each other in Calamazoo. See ya on the flip-side, homies." And with those words of twisted wisdom, Grandpa left the Blade Breakers alone.  
  
"Sorry 'bout him," Tyson said as he started raiding the fridge.  
  
"No biggie, I like your grandpa," Max and Rockie chorused. Then they started cracking up as they loaded luggage into the BBA van they were issued.  
  
The van had two front seats, a bench seat, and lots of spaces to load up their stuff in the back.  
  
It didn't take long before they were packed up and ready to roll.  
  
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-  
  
Okay, that's a really bad ending, but oh well. I couldn't go into the next part, because it's rather long. Like I said, oh well. Also, I'm sorry about the pointlessness again. I didn't mean to, but there are filler chapters, and there just happens to be nothing majorly important happening for a while. Not next chapter... but the one after that should start the actual, like, plot. Okay? Bye! 


	8. Meetings and greetings

Kai drove, Rei was in the passenger seat, and the others were expected to squish onto the bench seat.  
  
Tyson sat next to Hilary, who was next to Kenny, who was next to the window. Max was on Tyson's other side, and Rockie was against the other wall.  
  
Max and Tyson got bored almost instantly. They climbed back into the back of the van, with all the luggage, and started pretending like they were in a jungle, complete with Tarzan yells, monkey noises, and machine gun sound effects. Ah, to be 15 again... ;o)  
  
Hilary pulled a book out of a bag and opened to a page near the middle; Kenny, who ended up staying up too late the night before, immediately fell asleep leaning against Hilary's shoulder.  
  
Rockie, who grew bored easily like Max, decided to lapse back into her old habit of people watching. Rei was first. She was curious about him. She remembered the first time she met him, Tyson had made a comment about Rei being part cat. She decided to find out about it.  
  
"Hey, Rei?" she called in her sweet-little-girl voice.  
  
"Hmm?" Rei answered, turning in his seat to look at her, polite as always.  
  
"Is it true that you're part cat?"  
  
"Yeah. It's called being a neko-jin."  
  
"Oh. Cool! So that's why your teeth are pointy?" she asked, making sure she still sounded the same so he'd keep answering her questions. She'd noticed that as long as she sounded truly interested, people talked. What an amazing revelation!  
  
"You think they're pointy-looking now, watch wha—"he stopped talking suddenly, startled, when Kai gunned it and started swerving purposely, smirking all the way.  
  
When Rei was surprised, the cat qualities came out further. The pupils of his catlike eyes became thin slits, and his teeth seemed even pointier as he bared them, glaring at Kai.  
  
"KAI!!" he yelled. Everyone but Kenny looked up, startled. Rei DIDN'T yell, like, as a rule, unless it was really important.  
  
Kai just smirked, and started driving normally.  
  
Rei sighed and turned back to Rockie. "It's a defense mechanism," he explained.  
  
"Wow..." Rockie, without thinking, reached up and took his face in her hands, turning it slightly to watch his eyes glint in the light like a cat's.  
  
Rei smiled. "You understand now?"  
  
She nodded and let go of him. "You'd better be careful who sees that though. Have you ever been called a vampire?"  
  
"Yes, actually," Rei laughed.  
  
"Are there other... neko-peoples?"  
  
"Neko-jins. Yes, there are others. I'll introduce you to some of them at the tournament." He smiled softly at the idea of seeing his childhood friends after so long.  
  
"Are any of them girls?"  
  
"There is one." His grin grew wider.  
  
Rockie grinned too. "You like her, don't you?"  
  
"Who, Mariah? Well, I love her as my best friend. I've known her practically from birth. She is a sister to me." (I hate Rei/Mariah, just so you know.)  
  
"I see. I thought this neko-jin girl would be Salima."  
  
Rei blushed at the name. "Salima is something else entirely..." he looked dreamy, and was going to continue but Kai let out a sort of snort that snapped Rei back to reality.  
  
Rockie leaned against the side of the van and crossed her legs, which were stretched out on the seat. She let out a sigh and thought about the other Blade Breakers with her eyes closed.  
  
Tyson, with his stubbornness, moodiness, and bad eating habits... and his love for Beyblading, especially his bit beast Dragoon...  
  
Rei, who had all that gorgeous hair, his polite but quiet ways, and his really cool Driger...  
  
Kenny, who's bit beast, Dizzi, was trapped in his laptop, making her able to communicate with everyone, and his little-boy-cute looks, that brain, and a passion for technology...  
  
Hilary, who loved Beyblading even though she didn't blade, and who admitted to Rockie that she'd had a crush on Tyson for years, and who had become one of Rockie's best friends...  
  
Max, the loving, caring, cute little guy, who acted immature, yet seemed so mature and smart that he didn't feel the need to act like it, with his awesome smile, love for everything, especially Draciel and his other friends...  
  
Kai, who... was quiet, independent, and seemed sort of... superhuman... and he had Dranzer, but that seemed to be all he cared about...  
  
That did it. If that was all she knew about Kai, (well, Kai himself, anyway. She knew his life's story and all, but she didn't know anything about HIM) then she would just have to get information from somebody. Best place: Kai himself.  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-  
  
So, Rockie had filled her plate up good with after-practice socializing. First she'd meet Rei's friends, probably tomorrow. Then she'd confront Kai... maybe, while she was alone with Rei anyway, she should ask him how he thinks she should do it.  
  
She fell asleep thinking about it.  
  
When she woke up, she was slouched with her arms around her knees and her head resting on top. She sat up straight and stretched her arms up, yawning, then looked around.  
  
Rei was driving how, and Kai was in the passenger seat, sleeping. It was still daylight, so Rockie couldn't tell what time it was.  
  
"How long..." yawn, "...was I sleeping?" Rockie asked quietly.  
  
"About 2 hours. We stopped driving for a while, that's why we aren't there yet," Rei answered in the same tone.  
  
"Why did you stop?"  
  
"To switch drivers and get something to eat. There's food here for you, if you're hungry." He pointed at a bag, never taking his eyes off the road.  
  
Rockie dug through the bag, pulled out some... French fries, and munched on them while she sat in silence.  
  
Not long after that, they got to the airport. A half hour later, everyone was in a small BBA private plane, headed to Australia. The plane ride was rather uneventful, except when Tyson bugged Hilary just a bit too much and got himself slapped. ((A/N: lol love to beat Tyson up... ;o) ))  
  
At the airport in Australia, they got off the plane and were immediately greeted with hugs and kisses and "hey man, I haven't seen you in almost a year!"-s.  
  
Well, everyone but Kai and Rockie, anyway. Nobody ever touched Kai, and no one knew Rockie. They probably thought she was just another person who won some contest and got to spend a day with one of the teams, or something.  
  
Max finally pried himself away from his friends on other teams, and ran over to Rockie, who was standing alone.  
  
"Hey, come on, I'll introduce you to some people," he said sweetly, taking her hand.  
  
"Well... okay..."  
  
They went to where the All-Starz were gathered. "Hey, guys, I'd like you to meet the newest Blade Breaker, Rockie. Rockie, this is Emily, Michael, Steve, and Eddie."  
  
"Hi..." she said shyly.  
  
"Nice to meet you. I'm glad to see some new competition," Emily said. Secretly, she was thinking 'duh, Max, of course I knew who your new member is. I know everything about the teams.'  
  
Eddie shook her hand, and the other two just sort of nodded and said hi.  
  
"Want to meet anyone else?" Max asked, once they'd left the company of his mother's team.  
  
"Not right now..." she sighed, leaning tiredly on his shoulder. "Too much happening for one day..."  
  
Max yawned and leaned his head on his sister's. "I know how you feel."  
  
"Let's go find our rooms, Maxie. I wanna go to bed early. Maybe have a snack first."  
  
They ended up not getting to leave until about a half hour later, once all the greeting and catching up was done. Okay, now's about where you go "what the hell, most of the teams hate each other..." but it's also the part where I get to remind you that about 2 years have passed, and these people have grown up some (most of them anyway). They all sort of treated each other as a large group of casual friends, sort of like a class in a small school, how everyone knows everyone too well to just be acquaintances. Of course, the old rivalries still existed.  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-  
  
The next day—big surprise—the first thing that happened was breakfast. Then five hours of grueling training, and lunch. Finally, they got some time off. Rockie found herself walking down a hallway with Rei, on her way to the rooms the White Tigers shared.  
  
Rei lifted his hand to knock, but Rockie caught his fist before it touched the door. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Rei?"  
  
"Why wouldn't it be?" Rei laughed at the worried look on his friend's face. "They'll like you, I know it. And besides, you're so interested in the neko-jin community... it would be a sin to waste that curiosity."  
  
"Well... if you say so." She let his hand go and stood behind him while he knocked.  
  
A boy who was shorter than Rei, but looked to be older answered the door. He was kind of cute, in a rugged sort of way. His hair was in a ponytail, and he wore his usual outfit.  
  
"Rei!" the boy said loudly, embracing the taller boy with a grin. "Great to see you again."  
  
"Hey, Lee!" Rei moved into the room, then as a second thought, leaned back out and grabbed Rockie by the sleeve, dragging her after him.  
  
"Who's that, Tiger?" a short green-haired boy with a glint in his eye asked mischievously.  
  
"This is Rockie. She's Max's sister, and my friend. I brought her to meet you guys, hope that's okay," Rei said, in a tone that suggested that he assumed it to be fine.  
  
"Okay? Of course it's okay. Any friend of yours is a friend of ours, except maybe the human garbage disposal," Lee laughed, answering for everyone.  
  
"Hey there! It's nice to see another girl beyblader around," Mariah came over and linked arms with Rockie, smiling.  
  
Rockie started warming up toward these new people once she'd learned all of their names and a bit about them. Kevin was good at making her laugh, Mariah seemed nice enough, though a bit girly, and Gary was sort of like Tyson, but bigger. Lee reminded Rockie a bit of Kai, but also of Rei.  
  
"So, have you met the other teams yet?" Mariah asked.  
  
"No, not really... I did meet the All-Starz though," Rockie answered. "Why?"  
  
"Let's go then! Really, you can't be part of one of the teams if you don't know everyone!" without waiting for an answer, Mariah grabbed Rockie's hand and jogged out of the room.  
  
The first person they ran into was Mariam. She was with Joseph, wandering around.  
  
"Hey, Mariam!" Mariah said cheerfully.  
  
"What?" Mariam sighed.  
  
"I'd like you to meet my new friend, Rockie!"  
  
'Oh great, another ditz...' Mariam thought, then she said, "Hi, Rockie... wait, you look like Max!!"  
  
Rockie laughed. "I'm his sister!"  
  
"Oh really? Hmmm... well, this is my brother, Joseph. Guess we're both stuck in the same boat." Joseph was looking impatient, so she added, "and now we've got to go, sorry. Maybe I'll talk to you some other time."  
  
They left quickly before Rockie or Mariah could even say bye.  
  
"That was Mariam and Joseph... they're on the Saint Shields team. Mariam has a crush on your brother, but she won't admit it for anything, and Joseph's an ugly little monkey, unlike Kevin, who's a very cute ugly little monkey."  
  
"Oookay..." Rockie said. She was thinking, 'Did that make any sense at all?'  
  
"C'mon, we've still got people to meet."  
  
"Mariah, maybe I should do this with Max..."  
  
"Nonsense! I don't mind at all!"  
  
"That's not what I was getting at, but oh well," Rockie sighed in defeat and allowed Mariah to link arms with her again and drag her down the hall.  
  
"Ooh, here's someone you should meet..."  
  
"MARIAH!!" the name echoed from down the hall, in the direction they'd just come from. A few seconds later, Max came running at them, and he grabbed Rockie in his arms protectively, placing himself between the two girls.  
  
"Rockie, are you okay? Did she hurt you? Are you in any way traumatized, cuz if you are, I'll make Kai sue her for every penny..." Max rambled on.  
  
"Max, I'm fine..."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
Mariah glared at the blonde boy with her hands on her hips. "Max, what did you do that for? We were having a good time before you came along."  
  
"Mariah, you know I don't like you. You're scary and... pink. I'm just being a good brother. Now, off you go back to your fellow kitty people, ok?"  
  
Mariah huffed off the way they'd come, flipping her hair angrily.  
  
"Thanks Maxie, I thought I'd be stuck with her all day!" Rockie sighed in relief, pulling away from Max.  
  
"No problemo. Now, I have to go, but you can keep looking around if you want. I sort of left Tyson all alone with Kai, and I'm not sure if he'll still be alive when I get back." He kissed his sister's cheek, and sprinted back down the hallway.  
  
Rockie turned to keep going, and walked straight into someone.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she blushed. "I wasn't watching where I was going."  
  
The boy smiled down at her and straightened his vest. "No harm done. May I ask your name?"  
  
"I'm Rockie... Rockie Tate. Or Rockie Lewis. Whichever."  
  
His smile grew. "Hello, I am Enrique Giancarlo. You are beautiful."  
  
Rockie grinned back. "Do you try that line on every girl, or am I special?"  
  
"You are certainly special, but yes, sadly, I use that line on every beautiful girl. You caught me. I mist admit, however, you are the only one who has made me feel like this." He lifted her hand to his lips, and lowered his eyes as if to say "and here's the part where you either fall into my arms or break my poor heart, which shall it be?"  
  
Rockie laughed, making him look up with a hopeful (yet somehow, teasing) grin. "Well, I must admit, you have a way with words, Enrique... but go try it on some girl who buys into that crap." She said it with a friendly tone to her voice.  
  
"Alright. I tried. Friends?" he held his hand out.  
  
"Sure." Rockie accepted the hand, shaking it, but keeping hold. "Hey, introduce me to some people, huh?" she asked with a grin identical to Max's.  
  
"Okay," He led her to the other Majestics, who were in a room off of the hallway. "This is Johnny, Oliver, and Robert. Guys, meet Rockie... um..."  
  
"Tate. Hi!" she flashed her smile, and Oliver and Johnny smiled back. Robert muttered something about uncouth, outgoing girls and his teammates...  
  
"It is an honor to meet such a lovely young lady as you," Oliver said as he bowed over Rockie's hands, which he'd taken in his own.  
  
Rockie blushed. "What's with you guys? Enrique calls me beautiful; now you say I'm lovely... do you guys have vision impairments or something?" she pulled her hands away from Oliver and rolled her eyes.  
  
"I apologize for them. They're major flirts, but too naïve to have any sense while doing it. You ARE cute though," Johnny said with a smirk.  
  
"Eh... thanks..." just then, Rei knocked on the doorframe and walked in. she was so glad to see a familiar face that she immediately threw her arms around her friend's neck, startling him and the Majestics.  
  
Rei sort of awkwardly patted her back, then gently pulled her off and led her out of the room, saying, "Bye, guys, see ya later..."  
  
They went back to the Blade Breakers' suite, where Kai immediately pounced—in his own, Kai-like way.  
  
"Where have you two been?" he asked lazily, not opening his eyes, from his seat on the couch.  
  
"Visiting the White Tigers, Kai, that's all," Rei answered for both of them.  
  
"Yeah, and I went to meet the Majestics, too, thanks to Mariah," Rockie added.  
  
Tyson, from across the room, snorted and started laughing. "So, what did you think of Mr. Art and Mr. Flirt?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"He means Oliver and Enrique," Kenny explained, looking up from his video game match against Max for just a split second. It was enough for Max to gain an advantage, however, and the game was quickly won.  
  
"Oh. Them. Well, Oliver seems like a sweet guy, and Enrique... well, he's okay, too. Johnny seems nice as well. I don't know about that Robert guy though." She took the controller from Kenny and set it up again so she could play against Max.  
  
Hilary came in then, and started fighting with Tyson. A typical day. 


	9. UhOh!

A/N: Ok guys, thanks for the reviews! MasterDranzerAlmighty Dranzer, greeneydgrl74, MysticMystery, lazyfifilazy, lilix (twice for you, lol), and... I don't think I'm forgetting anyone, but if I am, please tell me so I can hit myself in the head and apologize at least 20 times, okay? I'm glad you guys like it! Sorry it took so long to update, and sorry I didn't mention some of you in earlier chapters. I was just so excited to get the chapter up, that I didn't spend the time to put up thank yous, sorry again. Okay, enough groveling. This chapter isn't as good as some of them, but it sort of gives you an idea of Rockie's priorities and stuff.  
  
The next day, however...  
  
*~*Rockie's POV*~*  
  
Right after practice, I went to see from Rei how I should best approach Kai. I would need all the advice I could get.  
  
"I suggest... just come out with it, I guess. Although, I don't know how valuable my advice will be, considering that this has never happened in the history of forever."  
  
"Right. Thanks anyway..."  
  
Not quite the advice I was hoping for. It would have to do though.  
  
I waited until after dinner to confront him, because I knew that people were grumpier when they were hungry. Kai happened to be heading out alone, so I figured this was my chance.  
  
"Kai!" I called.  
  
He kept walking.  
  
I rolled my eyes, and ran to catch him. "You must not have heard me, I tried to get you to wait up."  
  
"I heard you."  
  
"Oh," I hesitated. But then I figured, I knew he was a jerk, this was nothing extraordinary. "Well, anyway, do you mind if I walk with you?"  
  
"Yes." He kept his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the sidewalk ahead.  
  
I didn't leave, but I didn't say anything, either. Kai went along as if I wasn't there, until he came to a bridge. Once there, he climbed onto the railing, up the chain link fence, and down the other side, where he sat on the cement ledge overhanging the river below.  
  
I hesitated a half a second before I jumped up and started climbing over, too. Height was the one thing I couldn't be scared off with.  
  
Kai stared out over the water, completely ignoring my presence.  
  
::Want me to talk to Dranzer for you?:: Drayera asked calmly, in her usual way.  
  
::Sure, but don't tell me anything you find out; not just yet. I want to find out for myself,:: I answered in my head.  
  
::Sounds fun!:: the bit beast giggled and cut off the mental connection between us, so I couldn't hear her conversation with Dranzer.  
  
I sighed loudly. Kai ignored me. I cleared my throat. Kai ignored me. Finally, I couldn't take it any more.  
  
"Kai?"  
  
He turned his icy glare on me without a word.  
  
"Look, are you going to ignore me forever, or will you listen if I ask a question?"  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Fine. I'll just ask anyway." I suddenly realized... I didn't know what to ask. Have you ever had to think... if there was ONE question I could ask someone, what would I ask? Some people spend a lifetime thinking up a question to ask one certain person. I had about two seconds. I couldn't think of a thing. Then, of course, my stupid mouth went ahead and started talking anyway.  
  
"Well, Hilary told me about your grandfather. Why did you live with him anyway? Where's the rest of your family?" Oh, great. what a wonderful question to ask. Stupid mouth, stupid!!  
  
"He's it."  
  
"The only family you have is an evil grandpa?! Whoa. I can tell my mom to adopt you if you want. I bet she would, seriously."  
  
Kai gave a yeah-right smirk, and turned his eyes back to the river.  
  
I thought for a minute about what to say next. I wasn't about to let my mouth get away with pulling THAT trick again.  
  
"So... I know you've had a hard time and all, but why can't you loosen up? Not everyone in the world is your enemy, you know."  
  
Kai was silent. I was about to ask again, when he sighed and said, "How can you be so sure?"  
  
"Well, I just... know, I guess. I mean, Max looks up to you. He wishes sometimes that he could keep his mouth shut like you do. The others all want to be your friends. I do too. Why won't you give us a chance?"  
  
"I can't have friends."  
  
"Why?"  
  
He didn't answer, instead, avoiding the question. "Why do you keep bothering me?"  
  
"Because I can, and I don't like to see unhappy people. Max has wanted to talk to you about it for a long time, but he's scared of you."  
  
"Good."  
  
Hearing that, I totally forgot whom I was talking to. I forgot that I was busy breaking the ice, and I forgot that we were sitting on a narrow ledge over a rushing river. The word echoed in my head over and over.  
  
"GOOD?! How can you say that?! I just said that poor Max is SCARED of you! He is confused, because he wants to be your friend, but at the same time, he wants to be far away from you. And all you can say is GOOD?!"  
  
Kai waited patiently for me to stop yelling before saying quietly, "I only end up hurting people who call themselves my friends. And at the moment, I'm regretting ever letting you follow me, because now you're going to run around on some high horse because you talked to me. I swear, if you ever mention this to anyone, I'll tell the police that you stole money from me, and have a restraining order put up." He said it with the air that he did this every day.  
  
"Fine. I won't mention it, on the condition that you answer one more question."  
  
Kai sighed. I could imagine the thoughts that would be going through his head. 'Should I get rid of her? Is it worth it to answer this question?'  
  
"I can't answer it if you don't ask."  
  
I was in shock. I had been expecting him to shove me off the bridge and tell the FBI it was an accident or something (Yes, if you're wondering, the FBI would be called in if I died suddenly and violently. Daddy's special like that.). I could feel my eyes going big, and my jaw would have dropped open if I'd let it. KAI offered to let ME ask a question?! Maybe he really was going to shove me off the bridge...  
  
A few seconds later, my brain started functioning again. And I had the perfect question. "How do you feel about each member of the team, truthfully, and why?" ooh yeah, I rock. *chants* Rock-IE, Rock-IE! Go me!!  
  
So I sounded like a Language Arts test. Who cares?  
  
"No comment."  
  
"Oh no, you have to answer now! Go ahead. Tell me the truth. You'll feel much better afterwards." I was slightly begging, but oh well.  
  
He sighed slightly. "Fine. I hate all of you."  
  
"Liar, liar, liar!" I sang.  
  
This time there was no mistaking his sigh. "Rei's okay, Tyson's a pig, and Max is a baby. Kenny is a know-it-all, Hilary is a loud and annoying female, and I could say the same for you. Now will you get off my back?"  
  
I thought about it, and decided I'd better quit while I was ahead.  
  
"Sure." I climbed the fence again and dropped on the other side, and started off toward home.  
  
As soon as I got there, a frantic Max and a Rei who almost looked upset greeted me.  
  
"What's wrong?" I asked urgently.  
  
"Got a phone call from your friend..." Rei said.  
  
I grabbed the phone off the hook and prepared to dial. "Who?"  
  
"Um... the M one... Marissa? Melissa? Someone like that."  
  
I dialed lightning-quick. Missa picked up on the first ring. "Hello?"  
  
"Missa! What's wrong?" I started pacing.  
  
"N-nothing. I just wanted to, uh, tell you something..."  
  
"You don't stutter unless something is terribly wrong. Now, tell me before I have to fly home and strangle you!"  
  
"Okay..." I heard her sigh. "Carlie disappeared."  
  
"WHAT?!" I yelled. "Is that all? Well, have you checked the whole park?"  
  
"Every single tree."  
  
"What about that old van she likes to hide in?"  
  
"Checked there."  
  
"What is her mom doing about it?"  
  
"She's completely gone off the deep end. You know how she is about Carlie, and..."  
  
I kept pacing. "How long has she been gone?"  
  
"She took off right after you left. Not even ten minutes after."  
  
"Okay. I'm going to call back in a minute, after I've had a chance to think." I hung up and fell limply on the couch.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Rei asked quietly.  
  
"If I knew that, I would have already done it!" I snapped.  
  
"Are you going to go home and help look for her?" Max suggested.  
  
"I've got a feeling she's not at home. Although... you don't really need me here, do you? Would it be okay if I went home?"  
  
Hilary walked in the door with Kai right behind her, right when I said that. "Why on earth would you go home now?" Hilary asked as she dropped a bag of groceries on the counter in the kitchenette.  
  
"Carlie ran off, and Missa can't find her," I summed up.  
  
Hilary, who had grown quite close to my little band of friends, gasped. "Why would she do that, though?!"  
  
"She's always had a different way of doing things. Maybe she got mad at someone. I don't know. But I do know I have to go back and help. Here's my email address, and phone number." I scrawled rockstar014@ropeiscool.com ((lol don't ask)), and my phone number on a note on the counter, then ran to my room and started throwing my stuff in my bag.  
  
An hour later, I was in a BBA car on my way to the airport, to go back home.  
  
I think that was the shortest trip to the U.S. in the history of Japan.  
  
A/N: Me again, I just want to say that if I ever refer to Rockie as Romney, I apologize ahead of time. I'm writing the sequel to this... or maybe the third one... I'm not sure... but anyway, I'm writing that, and Romney is one of my main characters. I didn't mean to make their names so similar, but it's too late to change either! Oh well. Just a warning. Ok, bye for now! 


	10. CARLIE!

A/N: ok, sorry for the short chappie, first of all. 2nd, I'd like to thank the following people: lilix, and Shaedowe! Now, I've got to ask for some help on a few things. First, how the hell do you do bold and italics and underlining and stuff?!?! I have Microsoft Word, btw. Second, the original version of this story was Rockie/Kai... but it was way different from any Kai/OC I've ever seen before. Like... well, ok, I won't tell you any more, cuz I don't wanna give it away. Anyway, I COULD change it to another person besides Kai, but it would be a lot of work, and I really don't want to, because of how the plot is. But I'm going to take my readers opinions on the subject. If you want me to change it, then I need to know whom you would rather it be, and why. If you're okay with the original pairing, then just say so! Ok, thanks bunches and bunches!! Bye!  
  
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((3rd person POV))  
When Rockie got home, Missa was waiting in the driveway.  
"Thank Gods you're back!" Missa yelled, hugging her friend.  
"Are you SURE you've checked everywhere?"  
"Everywhere within reason..."  
"Carlie doesn't usually do things the reasonable way, you know that!" Rockie threw her book bag in the front door, and took off at a jog toward Carlie's house.  
"Judy! Judy, hello?" she yelled, as she walked through the door without knocking. Missa was right behind her.  
Carlie's mother came into the room from the kitchen, drying her hands. "Hello, Rockie. What are you doing home?" her words were cheerful, but her eyes looked exhausted.  
"Missa called and told me about Carlie. I came home right away!" Rockie hugged the woman tightly. "Don't worry, Judy. We'll find Carlie."  
The girls started to leave the house, but Rockie turned around. "Hey! You have the same first name as my biological mother. That's kind of funny!" then she left, laughing.  
The two girls went across town and picked up their other friends, the brother and sister, Ichiro and Kimi. The four of them rechecked the whole area; no Carlie.  
"I told you she was gone!" Missa said exasperatedly.  
"Don't give up, Miss," Rockie said. "She'll turn up. Remember when she ran away last year? She was back the next day."  
"But it's been longer than that..."  
"Missa's right. I'm not sure..." Kimi said quietly.  
"Argh, am I surrounded with pessimists?!" Rockie yelled.  
"No, I haven't given up," Ichiro told her. He pushed his unruly dark purple hair out of his face.  
"Did you ever think maybe she doesn't want to be found?" Kimi added. "Maybe..."  
She was going to continue, but suddenly, Carlie walked up out of nowhere. "Hey, guys, what's up?"  
"CARLIE!?" everyone yelled, with a major sweatdrop.  
"Uh, yeah, hi..." she said with a popping vein on her forehead.  
"You made me fly all the way back home just so you could pop out and say hello?!" Rockie growled.  
"I wanted you to come back!" she grinned.  
"You little..." Rockie reached out for Carlie's throat, but Ichiro and Kimi held her back with nervous little grins.  
"Rock, it's ok, dude," Ichiro said with a bit of a laugh in his voice.  
  
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A/N again: Sorry about the shortness and stupidness, but I had to get this outta the way. 


	11. Rei's POV!

"That was about the weirdest thing I've ever seen," I said over dinner the night Romney left.  
  
"Yeah," Kai agreed. "But we really need to get training."  
  
"Oh, Kai, is that all you ever think about?" Hilary sighed.  
  
"Yeah, for once I agree with the witch! Can't we have a day to recover from losses?" Tyson chimed in, while chewing a chicken leg.  
  
"Wow, Tyson. Recover is a pretty big word. Ya sure you know what it means?" I laughed.  
  
Max laughed with me. "Yeah, Tyson! Don't wanna accidentally say something stupid. Rei actually knows what the big words mean."  
  
"Shut up!" Tyson groaned.  
  
"I think we should start training as soon as possible, guys. The tournament starts tomorrow, after all!" Kenny was sitting at the table, munching a roll and typing on Dizzi at the same time.  
  
"You heard the Chief. Meet me outside in 15 minutes. If you're not done eating, that's your own problem." With that, Kai got up from the table (secretly grabbing a piece of pie and hiding it behind his back) and left the room.  
  
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-  
  
A week later, we were ready to go home again. I'm not going to detail out the battles and stuff, because (as usual!) we won everything! We rock. But that's beside the point. I was telling you about us going home! So, we were going to go home. In fact, we DID go home. And guess who was waiting at the airport for us, with hugs and chocolate?  
  
If you guessed Grandma, you were wrong. It was Rockie and her friends, and Grandpa too!  
  
"Yay, I missed you guys!" Rockie laughed, hugging each of us in turn.  
  
"We missed you, too!" Max said with a very similar laugh.  
  
Grandpa started handing out large chocolate bars. It had become a bit of a tradition, and he always remembered that I like plain dark chocolate, Kai likes dark with almonds, and Max likes milk chocolate crunch. Tyson, however, would rather have a bunch of little assorted kinds. Actually, he'd rather have a bunch of BIG assorted kinds, but Grandpa doesn't let him do that, and neither do Kai and Hilary.  
  
So, we all went back to the dojo. That's when I noticed that Carlie was with them. "Hey, Carlie, I thought you went AWOL!" I said.  
  
"Well, I did for a while, but I came back. I missed everyone."  
  
"Yeah, it was wonderful. I got here, and she came back. She has such wonderful timing," Rockie said sarcastically.  
  
"I already said sorry about that! I didn't know they'd make you come home for it!" Carlie defended.  
  
"I know," Rockie said, flinging an arm around her friend's waist. "Just glad you're okay, that's all that matters."  
  
"I was never NOT okay..."  
  
"So, how did my dogs do in the tournament?" Grandpa interrupted quickly.  
  
"They won, of course," Kenny said. He turned to ask the guys to describe what happened, when he saw Tyson and Max sitting at the table, stuffing food into their mouths at lightning speed.  
  
Tyson noticed his friend's gaze, and defended himself. "Hey, airplane food isn't anywhere NEAR enough for a growing boy!"  
  
"Nothing's enough for a growing boy according to you, Tyson," I laughed.  
  
This was about when Kai left the room for the back porch. Typical. What I didn't notice was that Rockie followed him. I didn't know about that until much later, when she told me. (Of course, how else would I find out, Kai? Ha, yeah right.)  
  
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A/N: kinda short but then next chapter---oops, I wasn't gonna say that so pretend I never started. Thanks to my reviewers, Shaedowe and Clueless Ally, Oh and Mel just Mel() and lilix(). Sorry, didn't mean to forget you, your reviews got lost in the bottom of my inbox apparently. So, anyway, until next time, bu-bye! 


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